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Nationalism looks to the past to advise current realities, and Japanese militarists were no different in taking inspiration from the exalted samurai warriors of yore, their revered martial tradition embodied by the katana as seen here. In response to rising nationalist sentiment within the armed forces, a new style of sword was designed for the Japanese military styled after a traditional tachi of the Kamakura Period (1185–1332).
The Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN), commonly referred to as the Blackshirts, was the main paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party. They were the Italian equivalent of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) after which the latter was based upon. Surmounted on the chain is an “M” standing for Mussolini and an eagle clutching the letters “SPQR”, an abbreviation for the Roman Empire which the Italian fascists sought to emulate. The centrality of ancient Rome’s role within the palingenetic mythos of Italian Fascism cannot be understated.
Japanese soldiers during the Second World War garnered a reputation for their ferocity and unrelenting spirit in the face of countless unfavorable engagements. This was undoubtedly due to Japan’s stoic military culture. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), despite being a modern military force, was built on the feudal concept of Bushido, the moral code of the ancient samurai in which honor surmounted all else. In order to instill this warrior spirit in their soldiers and cement their ancestral link to the fearsome warriors of yore, the Japanese High Command endowed upon all their officers a traditional Japanese katana.
The Schutzstaffel (SS) was the Third Reich’s preeminent elite paramilitary organization, driven by its fanatical devotion to National Socialism underpinned by a nexus of esoteric, occult and mystical principles. This grouping consists of a black M34 helmet, chained dagger and autographed portrait of Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, all laid upon the backdrop of a period SS banner.
Katana forged in the fires of the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, within which are enshrined all fallen members of the Imperial Japanese armed forces. It is said that this blade is imbued with the spirits of these martyrs. Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, founded to honor the spirits of those who gave their lives in service to the Emperor. Amongst the enshrined 2.5 million names are 1,068 convicted war criminals, including several Class A war criminals. In 1933, the radical fascist Minister of War, General Sadao Araki founded the Nihon-tō Tanrenkai (Japanese Sword Forging Association) in the grounds of the shrine to preserve old forging methods and promote Japan’s samurai traditions, as well as to meet the huge demand for katanas which all military officers were mandated to carry.
Sleek silver plated dagger with its crossguard and blade forming a fasces, a widely used symbol in Fascism from which the ideology derives its name. Gifted to Alessandro Pavolini, secretary of the Republican Fascist Party who was noted for his uncompromising fanaticism that exceeded Mussolini’s. He is seen by historians as being one of the primary instigators of the Italian Civil War and one of the founders of the hardline Italian Social Republic.